Woman befriends stray iguana near Stockholm

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A woman was gripped by panic on Saturday after heading home to her apartment with a sleepy 1.5-metre long iguana she had found while out walking in Aspudden in southern Stockholm earlier in the day.

"She got scared and called the police when it started to come back to life. There's a unit now making its way to Skansen Aquarium with the iguana," said police spokeswoman Christina Johansson on Saturday afternoon.

Iguanas can grow to lengths of up to 2.5 metres and can live for 20 to 25 years. They are herbivores and are native to the forests of Central America and northern South America. But the animals are also becoming a more common sight in the Swedish woods as pet owners increasingly choose to dump their unwanted lizards during the summer holiday season.

"There was a time when people would throw out their summer cats. Now people throw out their summer reptiles before going on holiday," Jonas Wahlström at Skansen Aquarium told news agency TT.

The Aspudden iguana is far from being the biggest beast to benefit from the creature comforts offered by Skansen Aquarium.

"Two old ladies were out picking berries in Huddinge when they happened upon a six-metre-long boa constrictor that weighed 85 kilos. We went out and rescued the snake while the police rescued the ladies," said Wahlstöm.